Meter apparatus.



H. H. MAPELSDEN.

METER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1. 1913.

Patented Dec. 12,1916.

2 SHEETS-HEET 2 Im/entor Harold. M Mapelsomn Hi5 vvfioor'rwei v and itaffords novel means for this purpose.

HAROLD H. MAJPELSDEN, 0F SCHENJECT&DY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 WENIIEEALELECTRIC COMPANY, A COEIPUEATION OF NEW YORK.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

. application filed october 1, 1913. terial 1W0. 792370.

To all whom it may concern: 1 a

Be it known that I, HARoLn H. MAPELS- DEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of. NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MeterApparatus,'of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to meter apparatusfor measuring the velocity orflow fluids,

whereby various practical advanta escan be obtained, such. advantagesincluding .accuracy and reliability of results; simplicity. ofoperation; security of the apparatus against injury by freezing, andsimplicity, rugged ness, and strength of construction. I

Various advantages besides those above mentioned that can be secured inconnection with my invention will appear from the following descriptionof a particular embodi-.

ment, and its scope will be indicated in "my claims. U

In accordance with my invention, ll emplov a movable structure or memberarranged in the path of the fluid to be metered counterbalancing theforce exerted by the fluid on it for any velocity of the fluid and forindicating or measuring the magnitude of this force,--from whichindicationthe velocity or flow of the fluid can be determined.The'variation in the force exerted by such counterbalancing meansnecessary to make it equal to that of the fluid under varying conditionsof velocity and flow'is preferably brought about as the result of slightmovement or dis lacement of the movable impact member ut independentlyof any variation in said force arising from the mere fact of suchdisplacement, the final outcome being the restoration of said member tothe position which it occupied prior to the displacement.

have hereinafter described in detail a simple and efl'ective apparatusof the t pe above'mentioned in which the counter alof the velocity orflow. In this form of apparatus the inertia of the moving parts andtheir small range of movement tend to prevent -over-resp0nse of theindicating mechanism to changes in the velocity of the fluid, and theformer also acts to damp out sudden temporary fluctuations of velocityor pulsations in the flowing fluid. The fluid metered by the apparatusdescribed may be air, steam, or other gas or vapor, orit may be water orother liquid. r Moreover, while my invention extends to the mechanismdescribed and specific features and details, .whlch are of importance onaccount of their 1 special advantages, yet the invention is notratenteanec. re, rate."

confined to this mechanism or to such specarried out and embodied,

,:In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l paratus such as above referredto,the conduit through which the fluid to be metered passes being partlyin section. Fig 2'is a view'at right angles to Fig. 1, certain partsbeing broken away and removed in order that others may be more clearlyvisible. Fig.

.3 is a diagram illustrating certain electrical connections. trating amodified form of one of the parts. As shown in Figs. -1 and 2, themovable member 1 has the form of a long, narrow vane or 'lf-sectionmountedon a shaft 2 so as to be capable of swinging with or against theflow of the fluid in the pipe or conduit 3. As shown, this vane 1 is ofsuch small.

size in comparison with the cross-sectional area of the pipe 3 that itwill not appreciably throttle the fluid or affect its flow or pressure,so that it will be aflected only by the force of impact of the flowinguid.

, The shaft 2 is arranged in a chamber structure or casing 4': having athreaded nipple t screwed into a hole in the wall of the pipe 3, themember 1 extending from the shaft 2 through the nip 1e 5 into theinterior of said pipe 3 and t e internal diameter of the nipple 5 beingsuflicient to aflord the memher 1 an ample though limited range of Fig.4 is a detail view illus-- cific features or details, but canbe'otherwise is a side view illustratinga flow meter aphas a relativelyhigh velocity (such as steam in the piping of a power plant, forexample); and these proportions also allow the vane 1 to be introducedinto the pipe 3 through the aperture that'receives the nipple 5, withouttaking down or opening up the piping. In cases where the velocity islow,

the member. 1 may be made to present a relatively greater area to theflowing fluid in proportion to the size of the pipe, the weight of themechanism, etc.in which case it may be necessary to open up the pipe to:introduce it,and other modifications ma be made.

he lever or scale-beam 8 which carries the counter-balance weight 9 ismounted on the shaft 2 between the stuffing-box 6 and the bracket 7. Asshown, the weight 9 is suspended from the beam 8 by lugs 10 arranged inpairs at opposite sides of said beam, spool-like rollers 11 whoseenlarged ends run at opposite sides of a ridge on top of the beam beingmounted between conical pivots in the lugs of each pair and serving toreduce friction. The movement of the weight. 9 along the beam 8 isefiected by relay mechanism comprising a screw member 12 mounted beneathsaid beam between 1 nected withsaidscrew member 12 by gearing115. Whenthe weight 9 is to be moved, the motor 1d receives current from the line16 (Fig. 3) through a direct connection to itsarmature including aresistance 17 and a connection to one or the other of its reverselywound field coils 18 including a hand switch 19 and a controller 20associated with the lever 8. As shown, the controller 20 comprises acontact 21 mounted on the opposite end of the beam 8 from that on whichthe motor id is carried and a pair of cooperating adjustable stationaryscrew contacts 22 in brackets above and below said contact 21, thesecontacts 22 being connected with the field coils 18 by wires 23. In thedrawing the range of movement of the contact 21 between the contacts22.is very much greater than will usually be preferred, the object ofthis exaggeration being to make the drawing clearer; and it is also tobe observed that in practice the beam 8 may be made much longer thanShown in proportion to thedimensions of the other parts, if greatersensltiveness is desired.

The meansfor indicating and recording the position and movements of theweight 9 comprises an index and marking point or pen 25 attached to saidweight and a circular disk 26 having its face graduated in a number ofappropriately spaced circles or carrying a similarly graduated sheet ofpaper.v To enable the point 25 to record the positions and movements ofthe weight 9 from'time to time as well as to indicate its position atany given time, the disk 26 is driven by a clock-work 27 mounted on abracket 28 attached to the chamber structure 4 and is also graduatedwith radial lines corresponding to appropriate intervals of time. Asshown, the pen 25 is mounted at one end of the pot-hook bent neck of anink flask or other vessel 29, the ink being carried up from the flask tothe pen through a capillary passage in said neck. To insure that the pen25 shall always bear againstthe marking surface of the disk 26 properly,the flask 29 is suspended by a link 30 secured to two collars 31embracing its neck, the upper end of the link 30 being pivoted to abracket arm 32 which is secured on an .arm 33 projecting from the weight9, so that the fiask'29 can swing truly in the plane of the paper inFig. 2, and the bracket arm 32 having a set screw 34 by which it can beset in the proper position on,the arm whenever the machine requiresreadjustment to meet new conditions of use, or for any other reason.

While the scale on the disk 26 might be made to read in terms of unitsof force, it will be found practically more convenient to calibrate andgraduate it to show feet per second velocity of the fluid through theconduit 3,-or, the internal cross-sectional area of the conduit beingknown, cubic feet per second flow. Or, if the density of the fluid inthe conduit 3 is reasonably constant (which in the case of elastic fluidsuch as air or steam means of reasonably constant pressure and qualityor condition) the scale can be made to read directly in cubic feet perminute for air flow, or in pounds per hour or boiler horse-power forsteam or water flow. If desired, means for indicating the position ofthe weight 9 additional to the scale on the disk 26 may be provided bymarking or mounting an appropriately graduated scale on the front edgeof the beam 8, as shown.

The 0 eration of the apparatus is as follows 0 long as the position ofthe weight 9 on the beam or lever 8 corresponds with the velocity orflow of the fluid in the conduit 3, the vane 1 remains substantiallyperpendicular to the conduit, and the contact 21 does not engage witheither of the contacts 22. If the velocity or flow of fluid in theconduit 3 diminishes so that its force of impact on the member 1 isless, the left-hand 13) aoaeoa end of the beam 8 descends, the contact21 and the lower contact 22 come into engagement, and the motor 14operates through the screw member 12 to shift the weight 9 to the rightuntil its position corresponds with the changed velocityor flow in theconduit 3, wheneupon thebeam 8 rises, the contacts 21 and 22 aredisengaged, and the motor comes to rest. Similarly, if the velocity orflow of'the fluid in the conduit 3 increases, the left hand end of thebeam 8 is caused to rise so as to bring the contact 21 into engagementwith the upper contact 22 and the motor 14. is brought into action toshift the weight 9 to the left an amount corresponding to the increasedvelocity or. flow.

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of movable impact member that is especiallyadapted for cases where the velocity of the fluid to be metered isunusually low,-as, for ex ample, where the pipe'employed is much largerfor its intended service than good practice would require. As hereshown, the movable part 1 of Figs. 1 and 2 carries a perforated metaldisk 1 having a diameter a little less than that of the pipe 3. Byreason of the holps in it this disk 1 can be made to present a greaterarea for the impact of the flowing fluid than the'part 1 alone withoutmaterial interference with the flow of the fluid, so as to secure agreater im pact effect and a better correspondence between this eflectand the average velocity andflow at difl'erent points in the crosssection of the pipe; or, as shown, it may even be so large in comparisonwith the area that would otherwise be availablefor the flow of the fluidpast the point where it is located as I ;to throttlethe fluid, so thatthere will be a 40 slight but appreciable difl'erence in static pressurebetween its two" sides which will reinforce the impact force on themember 1 due to the velocity of the fluid. The result will in any casebe that for a givenvariation in the velocity andflow the variationof thetotal force exerted on the movable member by the flowing fluid and thecorresponding movement of the weight 9' will be greater than with themember 1 alone, sothat the meter will be easier to read and moreaccurate in its indications. For varyin conditions or velocities of thefluid the oles in the disk 1 may be diminished or increased in number orsize, or even dispensed with,

and the disk itself may. be made larger "or smaller in comparisonwiththe'bore of the pipe 3 than would ordinarily be preferred.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 havedescribed the principle of operation of my invention, to ether with theapparatus which I now consi er to represent the best embodiment thereof;but ll desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is onlyillustrative, and that the V invention can be carried out by othermeans.

trolled by a slight movement of said member v to automatically adjustthe position of the counterweight whereby said member is held in asubstantially fixed position in the conduit, and means for indicatingthe position of said counterweight on the beam.

2. An apparatus for measuring the velocity or flow of fluid comprising amovable member in the path of the fluid, a scale beam or lever rigidlyconnected to said member, a sliding counterwei ht on said beam forcounterbalancing the orce of the fluid on said member, and meansresponsive to movement of said member for automatically shifting saidcounterweight along said beam so as to bring said movable member back toits ini-- tialposition.

3. An apparatus for measuring the velocity or flow of fluid comprising acasing having a nipple adapted to be inserted in the conduit throughwhich passes the fluid to be metered, a vane pivoted. in said casing andextending through said nipple sons to be exposed to the fluid in theconduit when the nipple is in place, means 'operatively connected withsaid vane for counterbalancing the force exerted by the flowing fluidthereon, and means for indicating the magnitude of the force exerted bysaid counterfbalancing means and the velocity or flow.

4. An apparatus for measuring the velocity or flow of fluid comprising amovable member in thepath of the fluid, means for counterbalancing theforce exerted by the fluid on said member,- means actuated by themovement of said member resultin from variation in said force forvarying an adjusting the force exerted by said counterbalancing means tocompensate for variation in the velocity or flow of the fluid andmaintain said member in its initial position, and means for indicatingthe magnitude of the force exerted by said counter-balancing means andthe velocity or flow.

5. An apparatus for measuring the veof said member resulting fromvariation in said force varying and adjusting the locity or flow offluid comprising a movable member in the path of the fluid whose area isso large in comparison with that otherforce exerted by saidcounterbalancing means to compensate fors'iich variation in the velocityor flow of the fluid and maintain said member in its initial position,and

means for indicating the magnitude of the force exerted bysaidcounterbalancing means and hence the velocity or flow.

'6. An apparatus for measuring the velocity or flow of fluid comprisinga movable member in the 'path of the fluid, a scalebeam or leverconnected with said member,

a-weighton said beam for counterbalancing the force exerted by the fluidon said member, means including a relay controlled by movement of saidbeam for shifting said 'weight along the same to compensate forvariation in the velocity or flow and so re; store said beam to theposition which it occupied prior to such variation and put the relay outof operation, and means for indicating the position of said weight onsaid beam and the velocity or flow of the fluid.

7. An apparatus for measuring the velocity or flow offluid comprising amovable member in the path of the fluid, a scalebeam or lever connectedwith said member,

a shiftable weight on said beam for counterbalancing the force ofimpactof the fluid on said vmember, a screw member arranged on said beam andin engagement with said weight for shifting it along said beam, a motoralso mounted on said beam for rotating said screw member, contact meanscarried by said lever, and stationary contact means cooperating withsaid contact means on said beam and connected with the controllingmechanism of said'motor, so that by the movement of said beam resultingfrom variation in the velocity or flow of .flows tending to move thesame, means for counterbalancing the force exerted by the ,fluid on saidmember and tending to maintain, said member in a fi'xed position in theconduit, and means controlled by a slight movement of said member toautomaticallv adjust said counterbalancing means.

9. The combination with a conduit through which a fluidtobe meteredflows, of a member pivoted inthe conduit against which the fluid flowstending to move the same,

means for counterbalancing the force exerted by the fluid on said memberand tending to maintain said member in a fixed position in the conduit,means controlled by a slight movementof said member to automatically*adjust said counterbalancing means, and means for indicating the valueof the force exerted by said counterbalancing means.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day ofSeptember, 1913.

HAROLD H. MAPELSDEN.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, -HELEN ORFORD.

